One of these days when I write my Book Of Basketball, there will be a section dedicated to Joe Forte. His career will always remain one of the sorer subjects to discuss because of what was and what I, and so many others, ultimately envisioned he should have been.The UNC swingman – who averaged around 19 points, six rebounds and three assists while in Chapel Hill – was one of hoops most celebrated college stars only turn into one of the NBA’s most infamous no-shows (1.2 ppg in only 25 games as a pro).

That’s the thing about being a 6’4 guard, I assume. You’re too tall for the “normal” point guard and too short for the prototypical two guard. Sans Dwyane Wade, of course.

Bonus: Below is Forte’s last game of what would be his First Team All-American season, an 82-74 loss to Penn State in the second round of the 2001 NCAA Tournament. Check UNC’s squad, too. Ronald Curry and Julius Peppers would eventually go on to play in the NFL and Brendan Haywood was a future first round pick in the NBA. And Jason Capel was low-key one of my favorite Carolina players for reasons I’m not even sure of. Nostalgia kicks in right about…now.

Things didn’t work out for him as he probably would have liked them to, but he’s a good dude. Had a hell of a run. He ran into the same problem as Sean Respert and they like: not a good enough ball handler and/or wrong mentality for the point, not big/athletic enough to defend the 2 guard position.

I remember that dude. Expected big things from him. Hope he invested a couple of them checks.

I’m more disappointed in Jason Williams of Duke. I was a big fan of his. Threw it away to ride a motorcycle that he was contractually not even supposed to have. Damn shame. Those early 2000s Duke vs Maryland games were crazy.